Page 72 of Under Arthur’s Protection

“I’m pretty sure I didn’t say anything about Champagne, let alone Cristian de Troyes or Malta.” She shook her head. “So they may not have been behind the attack, but if Hopkins was, can we trust anyone he pointed us to?”

Which meant whatever Lance had dug up was suspect, too. “What about the Malta information? Any chance that’s a fake?”

She picked up my phone and fiddled with it. “Should we call Hopkins?”

If Lance had suggested that, I would have laughed and asked if he had a death wish. Assuming Hopkins was the one setting us up, we had to stay as dark as possible. But this was Gwen, and I wouldn’t harass her in the same way. “Not until we understand what we’re dealing with.”

Through the windshield, the road stretched between flat fields and clusters of trees. Gwen suddenly went bolt upright. “Wait a second.”

“What?”

“Where are we?”

“I’m putting distance between us and Troyes,” I said. “We’re heading southwest, away from the city.”

She dropped my phone onto her lap and shot her hands out, as though bracing herself. “But our things are at the hotel.”

“They are.”

“I thought you were planning on looping back or… My clothes. My bag. My⁠—”

“We’ve got the sword and the laptop with your research. Everything else can be replaced.”

“Replaced?” Her voice climbed an octave. “I’ve already lost my grandmother’s pearls, my thirtieth birthday bracelet from my mom, and my nicest pair of earrings. Let alone my laptop!”

“You said your files synced to the cloud. Is Sam’s loaner missing software?”

“That’s not the point, Arthur!”

“Okay.” I nodded at the phone. “Call the hotel and tell them we had to leave unexpectedly. Ask them to pack our bags and hold them. If they make a stink, have them name a price and charge it to the card on file.”

“Money doesn’t—” Her eyes were wide, tears welling at her lids, and her mouth moved as if she were searching for the right words.

Her protest would be either that money didn’t grow on trees, or it couldn’t fix every problem. But honestly, in my family, it did grow on trees and it did fix everything.

“Gwen, I’ll fix this, I promise. But for right now, I’m going to keep driving.” I started to reach for the phone, but stopped short because it was sitting on her thighs. That wasn’t a move I should make. “Please call the hotel.”

She picked up the phone, stared at it for a few seconds, then held it toward my face. The screen unlocked. She scrolled through the call history, found the number, and dialed.

The conversation took a while. Gwen explained the situation to the receptionist, who transferred her to someone else, who asked her to start over. Her voice stayed steady, but she kept touching her face with her free hand, and twice she closed her eyes and breathed before answering a question.

On the upside, the call kept her occupied, which was partially the point. She needed something to focus on other than our escape across France or the attack in the parking lot.

The parking lot.

Shit.

The car had been unattended in the lot for over three hours, while we were inside. Any one of those men could have put a tracker on it. If they’d tagged the car, they knew precisely where we were. They could be following the signal right now, maintaining enough distance to stay invisible.

I slowed and pulled off the road.

Gwen covered the phone’s mic with a hand. “What are you doing?”

“I need to check the tires. Keep talking to the hotel.” I got out and opened the SUV’s back, rummaging through the emergency kit the rental place had provided. After finding the flashlight, I made a slow circle around the vehicle, checking the most obvious areas—the wheel wells and bumpers. Nothing. I dropped to my back on the gravel shoulder. The undercarriage was dark and oily, the frame thick with road grime. I worked my way along the passenger side, running my good hand over the metal, searching for anything out of place.

Even if I didn’t find a tracker, we’d need to ditch the car and find a new one at the first opportunity. I could steal a license plate, but the Land Rover was too big and expensive to blend in. I should have insisted we rent something less conspicuous.

You could call your father.